


Could Be Worse

by RednReady



Category: The Blacklist (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-06
Updated: 2017-10-03
Packaged: 2018-10-28 20:11:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10838547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RednReady/pseuds/RednReady
Summary: post 4x19 drabble





	1. Chapter 1

Well, he'd lost the jet. And the Werner alliance. And millions of dollars. Hundreds of millions, actually. Kate would probably continue to expose him, betray him. All those secrets he'd shared with her over the years. The dark places of himself that only she knew existed. The murders, the mistakes. Everything he'd entrusted her with, about to be laid bare before the world. 

It really should be bothering him more. 

But right now, at this moment, he found himself happy to be alive. Happy to be fighting an enemy who actually didn't want to hurt Elizabeth.

He felt awful about Werner, but in a strange way, it was a weight off of his soul. Every time he'd looked Werner in the eye for the past twenty-five years that secret had threatened to choke him. It was gone now. So was Werner.

Reddington had no doubt that one day the demons of his past would catch up to him, but today was not that day.

He was hitching a ride in the back of a pickup truck in Belgium, not the most glamorous mode of travel he'd ever used, but definitely not the bumpiest. He had Dembe by his side. Things could be a lot worse. Had been a lot worse. 

He could feel Dembe's stalwart, steady presence. A few short weeks ago he'd thought he'd lost him. Day and night for weeks he'd been tortured by the thought that Dembe had tried to kill him. Had wondered what to do about him. Had mourned him. And now to be forgiven by him. They'd weathered the fiercest of storms together, and emerged stronger for it. They would get through this. 

Red chuckled to himself. His tailbone had gone numb from the metal truck bed, but it seemed nothing could ruin his good mood.

Dembe shifted uncomfortably. Red laughed louder, spurred on by Dembe's incredulous looks.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> somewhere in 4b probably

It's strange what happens to people who find themselves in impossible situations. In Reddington's case, he found that when he was pushed far into the darkness, he'd emerge into a dusky dawn on the other side.

The world coming down on his head would suddenly strike him as funny. A new adversary would fill him with trepidation, but then the adrenaline of the new challenge would course through his veins. He'd become almost giddy at the prospect of matching wits with his new foe. Situations that were impossible to escape became merely puzzles that must be solved, and he never tired of solving them.

Coping mechanisms, he supposed. He wondered at times if he was, in fact, going mad. But then shrugged it off. Why should he care if he was? _We're all mad here._


End file.
